Diamond is celebrated for the purity of its brilliance. Yet within the structure of diamond, we often find
impurities, or inclusions, that deflect light, distracting our eye from the radiance we so value.
Many of these tiny imperfections are removed when the diamond is shaped. Today, cutters
also have the option of using an enhancement technique that focuses tiny beams of
laser light at imperfections and vaporizes them. The minute passageways
created by the laser may then be filled with clear resins or glass-hard
substances, rendering them nearly invisible to the naked eye. This
method can also be used to fill fissures that reach the stone's
surface, rendering them less visible to the naked eye.
This treatment is permanent: only extreme heat
or specifically formulated chemicals will
remove the filling from the laser
passageways or fissures.

Diamonds may also be colored in a variety of hues. Extreme heat and irradiation permanently enhance
certain innate color properties, allowing them to display their hues in more brilliant
array. Black diamonds, for example, are usually enhanced in this way.

A new high-pressure high-temperature treatment, known as HPHT, can improve the color of certain types of
diamonds. HPHT treatment can remove tints from some diamonds, making them more colorless, or
intensify the pink, blue, green, and yellow colors in others. Because HPHT diamonds sell for
less than naturally colored diamonds, industry rules require HPHT- treated stones
to be identified with an inscription on the girdle of the
diamond to prevent misrepresentation.



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